Africa’s youth are making their voices heard

Inspired by their neighbours, youth groups in Cameroon are also using the political structures to seek younger political participation in their country. The organisation Network for Solidarity, Empowerment and Transformation for All (NewSETA) started a campaign known as #VOTE18, aimed at lowering the voting age in Cameroon from 20 to 18.

When the bulwark finally crumbles it looks like destiny. And yet the Sudanese protesters who caused the removal of President Omar al-Bashir on 11 April were far from certain of success.

Bashir, who seized power in a military coup in 1989, had crushed two similar protests in 1992 and 2013. And yet in December 2018 crowds once again took to the streets of Khartoum. What began as a protest against a tripling of the price of bread became a widespread movement against Bashir’s hardline government, backed up by professional organisations and women’s groups, until the military ousted the leader.

The youth-led revolution did not get this far to be ruled by old men in uniform. Thousands still fill the streets of Khartoum demanding a civilian government. They now face…